‘Ghost Rider’ sequel disappoints see p. 4
77 years... and counting
Tuesday February 21, 2012 Volume 138, Issue 13
SPARTAN DAILY
SJSU gymnastics fueled by teamwork see p. 3
SpartanDaily.com
Arts center lures literary luminaries by Boris Slager Staff Writer
The Center for Literary Arts brings established and non-established writers to SJSU and the surrounding community. “Our mission is to bring literature to people,” said Andrew Altschul, the director for the center. The center puts on events featuring writers, some who have won Pulitzer prizes and some who are just getting started, Altschul said. He said he was hired to teach in the English department and to run the learning arts center. The most recent writer the center brought in was Rae Armantrout, who was on hand Feb. 15 and 16 and who won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 2010. “At (the center’s) events, I have been able to meet some legendary writers, including Arthur Miller, Ursula Le Guin, and E.L. Doctorow, and I have gained insights into their work that are unavailable otherwise,” Julie Sparks, a lecturer in the English department, stated in an email. “It feels truly surreal to stand across a table from these titans while they sign a book for me, but it gives me at least a tiny sense of what they are like as human beings, not just as literary icons.” Altschul said the center also features new writers in a series called West Coast Writers. “We like to have a variation of writers for each semester,” he said. It takes more than a year to coordinate with the authors on when they should
come out, and more than 75 percent of authors agree to come to campus, Altschul said. “We bring writers who fit our mission,” he said. The writers come out to reach a diverse audience and to get exposure, he said. “The Center for Literary Arts is an indispensable part of the education of young writers at San Jose State,” English assistant professor Nick Taylor stated in an email. Altschul said he communicates with faculty on who the center should bring in to speak. “I can’t think of a more comprehensive campus reading series,” Taylor stated. Altschul went on to say that the organization provides airfare and hotel for the visiting writers. Altschul said he brings the writers out to lunch and dinner, so when they leave the writers can spread the good word of SJSU. He added that half the funding for the cen-
SEE LITERARY PAGE 2
“It feels truly surreal to stand across a table from these titans…” – Julie Sparks, English lecturer
Open University student Montana Smith stands on the highest point of Brimstone Hill Fortress, a former British military base dating to the 17th century, on the island of St. Kitts in the Eastern Caribbean islands.
Smith was one of 12 students who attended associate professor Marco Meniketti’s faculty-led archaeology program in the country of St. Kitts and Nevis last summer. Photo by Leo Postovoit / Spartan Daily
Oh, the places you can go Four study abroad programs over four session periods create learning opportunities by Eddie Fernandez Staff Writer
SJSU’s study abroad program and International Programs and Services are seeing more student applications being submitted thanks to both their services. “We are increasing our numbers for students studying abroad and that is due to the increased awareness of the programs we offer,” said Justine Toro, a student director with the study abroad program. Raising awareness to students through high promotion has been a key factor in giving students the opportunity to study overseas. “I think we are doing a good job of promoting the SJSU study abroad program on campus and that is why more students are turning in their applications,” Toro said. SJSU offers multiple programs sessions — summer, semester, winter or academic year programs, Toro said. According to Toro, SJSU has a total of three
programs that students interested in traveling the world can choose from. There are also multiple faculty-led programs developed by individual departments. Quentin Nolibois, a French foreign exchange student, said he selected SJSU as his school for the academic year because he wanted to come to California. “I came here because I love how California is mostly about the music, mostly rap” said Nolibois, a junior public relations major. Nolibois added that people in the Bay Area are friendlier, outgoing and he likes the California lifestyle compared to France. “Alcohol is cheaper, food is cheaper,” Nolibois said. He said he can see California being his new home one day if he can find a job. Stephanie Garcia, a senior majoring in hospitality management, said she spent one semester studying abroad in Argentina. “What I was looking for in a program was first of all that they offered my major…” Garcia said. Garcia found out that SJSU’s Bilateral program would allow her to take her education to Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the fall 2011 semester. “I feel like it’s such an eye opener because it’s nothing compared to where we live over
here in the United States,” Garcia said. “You get to see how other people live. Garcia noted that her experience in Argentina allowed her to get a perspective on how dependent people in the United States are on their phones, computers and other technology. “In Buenos Aires, the pace of life is way faster than here in San Jose,” she said. “Everyone is in a rush to get somewhere, the people are more or` less semi-friendly.” Garcia noted that there were a lot of people in Buenos Aires that are busy and the city can be kind of dangerous. In one experience she said she got her wallet stolen while riding the metro. According to Garcia, studying abroad gives you time to explore and really get to know yourself and different people. Garcia adds that it’s a different world outside the U.S. and she has met people from Columbia and Mexico. Students pay normal SJSU tuition and fees with most study abroad programs, according to SJSU’s study abroad website, and students can use their financial aid to apply for study abroad scholarships. Students are eligible for most programs if
SEE ABROAD PAGE 6
Pot-smuggling tunnels from Tijuana grow more elaborate McClatchy Tribune Wire Service
A rubber-tracked robot enters a storm sewer on Feb. 6. Federal agents from the San Diego Tunnel Task Force demonstrated the robot that is used to explore narcotics tunnels. Photo by Tim Johnson / MCT
TIJUANA, Mexico — When smuggling goes smoothly for the marijuana division of the huge Sinaloa Cartel, cross-border deliveries unfold with clockwork precision. Harvested marijuana arrives in plastic-wrapped bales to a depot hidden among the rundown warehouses on the Mexican side of the concrete U.S. border fence. Once enough marijuana is collected, workers drop the vacuum-packed bales through shafts leading to the ever-more-elaborate tunnels that cross underneath the border through the clay-laden soil. U.S. agents have been waging war against the tunnels for years, using a range of high-tech devices from ground-penetrating radar to seismic sensors to find and destroy them. Despite the efforts, drug smugglers continue to build the tunnels, often spending $1 million to dig a single pathway equipped with lighting, forced-air ventilation, water pumps, shoring on
walls and hydraulic elevators. Lately, new tunnels have included railways. The bales move on electric mining carts with hand throttles that roll up to 15 mph. “A tunnel represents an incursion into the U.S., and it’s a national security event,” said Jose M. Garcia, who oversees the federal multi-agency San Diego Tunnel Task Force. The location of the tunnels helps explain why agents have such difficulty finding them. The area where the most advanced tunnels have been found is adjacent to the Tijuana International Airport, where scores of planes take off and land daily. Nearby warehouses buzz with legitimate activity. “All that noise from the airport is a great advantage to them,” said Victor Clark Alfaro, an anthropologist and human rights activist in Tijuana who also lectures at San Diego State University. “This border is perforated like an anthill.” U.S. officials say they have found more than 160 tunnels since 1990 along the 1,954-mile border, mostly in
SEE TUNNEL PAGE 2
CORRECTIONS In the Feb. 20 issue of the Spartan Daily, Alpha Kappa Omega was incorrectly identified as Alpha Phi Omega in the cutline of the photo for the article titled “Teaming up for charity.” In the same issue, Russell Hancock’s name was misspelled in the article titled “Silicon Valley pay rises, presents opportunity for college students in tech.” The Spartan Daily regrets these errors.
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